Memoirs of a Supernova
by Pineapple Potpourri
Summary: Starscream tells his wingmates about a special gift Megatron unknowingly gave him, something he believes may just change their leader's ways forever... but he soon starts to recall the past, and a dark secret Skywarp has tried so hard to make him forget.
1. A Caged Bird Set Free

**Author's Note: This is a new story I've been wanting to put up for a looong time now, but I figured why start something you haven't thought out to the end yet? But I've got a good grasp on exactly how I want the plot to end, so I'm going to start it up now. Wrote this well over a year ago while I was finishing up later chapters, but I reviwed it and edited a little. Let me know what you think. TF is copyright of Has/Tak.  
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I know why the caged bird screams. Megatron told him to, and he always gets what he wants. If my brother even tried denying him, Megatron would abuse him until he gave in. Sunstorm doesn't seem to care what any of us do. Thundercracker never mentions it, even if we hear them from down the hall. I suppose he doesn't want to embarrass Star, but I'm not going to hold back this time… for his own sake. Starscream must have asked our leader something, and as usual he hadn't reacted too well. This time seemed different though, he was yelling a lot louder than normal. By the time they finished arguing we'd have to go on shift again, which really meant watching the human brat all day.

I couldn't hear any of the mumbled words Starscream had said, but Megatron sounded more than upset. Several crashes of metal could be heard from outside, but I wasn't worried; besides Starscream had mentioned remodeling his room anyway. There was a few more mumbles out of Starscream and Megatron began to calm down, but a few minutes later I heard a noise that was never pleasant.

They were bonding again, and I immediately felt nauseous. I quickly motioned to Thundercracker, who had suddenly taken an interest in counting the tiles of the floor. We left the front of the door as quietly as possible, making sure the sides of our wings didn't scrape the walls. I hated these narrow fragging hallways. No better yet, I hated it when Megatron stole Starscream from me; but soon he would be through with him and we would have our trine leader back again. I just had to hold on for a little longer and it would all be over…

We waited patiently in the rec room, watching whatever Frenzy's OCD felt like stopping on for the next few seconds. Shockwave and the drones down at the Spacebridge central terminal had let the Dynobots slip past them again, for the third time in a month. That and the drones mysteriously disappeared right after, or so Shockwave said. When you thought about it that way, it had nothing to do with Starscream, but Megatron seemed to find it easier to hurt him instead. Why travel thousands of miles through space to tell someone off when you can punish someone here? It was even easier for him now that Starscream's wings had been damaged by the stupid twins, he couldn't even fly away. About a half hour later the door hissed open, and Starscream passed by us without a word, looking slightly less miserable than before.

T.C. was too busy scraping something sticky off his wing to comfort Star, so I turned to him instead.

"You alright little brother?"

He nodded shyly, and I spotted a few damaged wires and dents that he would later swear were already there.

"...Star, you need to stand up to him, or else TC and I will."

"You won't do anything if you value your life Skywarp." Starscream mumbled, trying to hide a new scratch on his arm I'd already seen.

"Yeah, and don't drag me into this either, I've got nothing to do with it!"

I couldn't help but punch him. "He's your cousin and you wouldn't even help him? What type of friend are you?"

"He can handle it himself… besides it's what you want right?" Thundercracker tried smiling a little.

"For him to abuse me? Sure Thunder, that's exactly why I joined this war."

Even though he was used to the harsh treatment, I knew he was upset. "Look I know you want him to care about you, but it just isn't going to happen, he barely knows you anyway."

"I don't recall asking you in the first place Warp, so leave me alone!"

"…Look, I'm only saying this because I care about you Star, and I'm sick of him hurting you." I tried holding his hand, but he pulled away as usual.

"Just stay out of it, or else he'll hurt you too." Starscream started walking off, so we followed him.

"You don't have to put up with it you know…" Thundercracker mumbled under his breath as the exit door vanished.

"I don't have a choice." Starscream lowered his head to the ground, the bright sunlight blinding his sensitive optics for a moment.

"Of course you do, he's not even your mate!" I couldn't help but be mad at him, how could he give up so easily?

"What does that have to do with anything?" T.C. said nudging my side gently. He didn't like talking about Star's relationships.

I ignored his plea to stop, and turned back to Star. "Do you know what everyone else calls you?"

He looked back but kept walking. "Why should I care what everyone else calls me?"

"...Megatron's little glitch."

T.C. stopped and glared at me. "Warp!"

"…What was that?"

"Uh, Starscream he didn't mean it." Thundercracker tried standing between us, but Star pushed him aside.

"Shut up Thunder!"

"Don't talk to him like that, it's not his fault you're a glitch."

"Oh screw you! And for your information brother, _he is my mate now_!"

I couldn't believe it, why would Star bond to him? "W-what? …When did that happen?"

Starscream smirked and glanced at the sky dreamily. "…Just now."

Thundercracker seemed nervous for a moment, but then grinned and hugged his cousin playfully. "Really? That's great Star, why didn't you say anything?"

Star smiled too. "I don't know, maybe because my big brother wouldn't stop nagging me."

"…I-I'm sorry Starscream, I'm just worried about you."

"If you cared how I felt then you wouldn't be calling me names." He said pouting.

"I do care! I just don't see why you bothered to wait for him this long; you've been with him for three centuries!"

"Because I love him, and he loves me! He just wasn't ready for another mate until now…"

All of them were quiet for a moment. Almost every Decepticon had heard the rumors about Megatron's twisted past. Some say he killed his pregnant mate and their young mech, and others said she killed herself and their two sons just to escape him. Thundercracker shuddered at the thought of what Decepticon life would be like if she had lived anyway, Megatron would have been a father of two sparklings… and more importantly, Starscream would have been miserable.

"…Do you really think he loves you back?"

"For Primus' sake Skywarp, just drop it already!" T.C. grabbed Star's hand to hold him back, but he didn't pull away.

"Why can't you just leave him, all he does is take from you Star, it's not good for you…"

"Believe me Warp, he's given me back more than enough." Instead of getting mad he kept smiling, and kept walking to the security compound.

I didn't like that smile, he was up to something again. "You're hiding something from us, aren't you?"

"…I have no idea what you're talking about." Star giggled and kept holding T.C.'s hand as they ran ahead.

"You think I haven't noticed you've been ditching us on our breaks lately? And from what Frenzy and Rumble told me you've been hanging around the Astronomy tower a lot too." I shouted, running after them.

Star stopped in his tracks, nearly jerking T.C.'s arm out of place. "Those dirty little rats!"

"So you are hiding something in there?"

"Nothing I could trust you two with!"

"Aw, come on, what is it Star?" T.C. whined and made his cutest face possible.

"Is it something you stole from Megatron? Don't you remember what happened last time? You know he'll be pissed if he finds out." Even I got a little scared when Megatron was angry.

"What? No way, I'm not that crazy… I suppose it's more of a... gift."

"A gift? From Megatron?" T.C. looked surprised too.

"Who else? He is my mate after all."

"What about Skyfire?"

Starscream frowned and glanced around nervously. "…What about him?"

"Well he may be an Autobot now, but technically he's still your m---"

Starscream quickly shushed his elder brother with a low hiss. "Keep your big mouth shut about that Warp!"

Starscream didn't want Megatron to know that Jetfire, who was recently rebuilt as Skyfire, had died while still being his mate. Starscream had told everyone that they were over just before Jetfire had disappeared, but he'd never broken their bond. Starscream shivered slightly, his brother was right, Skyfire was still his mate in a way.

"Right...Sorry Star. So what is it?" Skywarp looked like he meant it, so Starscream let it go.

"First you have to promise you won't tell anyone else...not even Sunstorm."

Skywarp and Thundercracker glanced at each other, then their trine leader. "We promise."

It was a long walk to the edge of the forest, where still standing tall, despite the rust and ruins it was left in, was an astronomy tower that rivaled those back at Kaon. Of course a Cybertronian telescope didn't need to be huge as it could see well into other galaxies, but the humans weren't so bad at designing ridiculously tall buildings. Starscream sighed as they approached the make shift entrance, Brawl and Bonecrusher had torn a hole in the side of the metal so anyone could fit inside. They used to use it for a low profile stockade, keeping extra weapons hidden in the tall grass that had overrun the eroding behemoth.

Skywarp felt a little nervous. "Well, where is it?"

Starscream shot him a glare. "Quiet, someone else could be around."

The youngest seeker shrugged. "…Why would someone be sneaking around here?"

"Just be quiet would you?"

"Alright, alright sorry." Thundercracker walked ahead of them, both excited and scared.

Skywarp sighed and followed. "Wait for me T.C."

Starscream ducked down under a low iron beam and grabbed his cousin's shoulder, holding him back. "Wait a minute."

A short barrier was in the corner just ahead, no taller than a human. There was a loud squeak from somewhere in the thick vegetation, and slightly alarmed, Thundercracker quickly bent down to pick up the strange animal. Pulling it up from the tall grass, and realizing it was metallic, and not something furry as expected, he jumped at the sight of it. He couldn't remember ever being this close to one before, but Hook had told him a little about them.

"What the…a hatchling?"

"Be careful with it!"

Skywarp didn't get the chance to question Starscream, as a familiar black minicon flew from the grass with a growl and pounced on him.

Ravage had been watching the tiny cybertronian for hours after stumbling upon it while searching for his twin brothers, and he wasn't going to let the seekers harm it while he was around.

Skywarp nearly screamed louder than his little brother, flinging the jaguar in the air and hiding behind the metal beam.

Ravage flipped around midair and landed softly in the weeds below, shaking his head free of dizziness. Behind him the squirrel he had befriended was squeaking again, talking to his feline companion.

The minicon hissed lowly as he turned to Thundercracker and the cooing hatchling hanging from the seeker's arm.

Thundercracker scratched his head. "Oh, you were protecting it weren't you?"

"...Well how nice of you Ravage, but I think we can take it from here." Starscream said smiling nervously, pretending to be surprised about the sparkling.

"Yeah, so you can go now okay?" Thundercracker said patting the smaller Decepticon's helmet.

The feline growled in warning, and crouched down to pounce on Thundercracker, but was swiftly kicked across the room by Skywarp. He hit the wall with a loud thud and growled as he pulled himself up. Whimpering in defeat, He limped his way to the entrance until his hind joint popped back in place, his furry friend hopping onto his back, and they headed back to the base. He didn't have time to make sure the tiny robot would be safe right now; he had to get back to the base and find the twins. He'd wasted enough time coming all the way to the tower for nothing, and in another few hours Frenzy and Rumble would hate Soundwave for not doing something for their birthday. He just had to find them first…

The hatchling wiggled out of its "mother's" grasp, trying to chase after its new best friends. It had only encountered Starscream since it's creation, and had become attached to the metal jaguar and furry creature in the few hours they had spent playing together.

The hatchling poked it's mother's face and pointed out to the world just outside its metal crib. "Klataku Bak saro taki?"

"Speak Cybertronian little one, no more of that annoying gibberish."

"Gika platara minsa!"

Skywarp shifted around nervously and shot a glance at Thundercracker, who was pretending to be debating the color of the floor beneath the grass.

"…How long has she been doing that?"

"…Since I sparked it, but it's really starting to get on my nerves. And don't say it's a femme, I don't know yet."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I… I haven't taken it to Hook yet."

"Are you crazy? There could be something wrong with it for all you know, it shouldn't be talking like that…"

"...Maybe you're right Warp, and I think I am going a little crazy. I don't know how I made it in the first place, but what's worse is I think I'm starting to understand it…"

Skywarp glanced at his brother worriedly. "I think you both should go see Hook…"

"Ripika wenra glatt?"

"Can get hug?"

"What?"

"I think that's what it said…" Starscream whispered to himself, ghosting the tiny faceplates with his fingertips.

"Pokulani ne!" the hatchling slapped the hand away, squirming to get out of the grip.

Starscream hissed at the child in annoyance, and deciding it's new friends had abandoned it, the hatchling began to cry.

"Oh, just give it to me."

It squeaked confusedly as it was hoisted up by a thin bar on the back of its neck, something there hurt for the slightest moment, but then everything went numb and it felt it's tiny body relax.

"There, I think it'll be fine now."

The unfamiliar bluish black mech placed the hatchling down gently in the grass below, and turned back to it's 'mother', who didn't look too happy.

"You shouldn't do that, it doesn't know you yet."

"And Megatron doesn't know it yet either does he?"

Starscream's angry response was lost on the hatchling's tiny audio receptors; it was already running out the entrance to find Ravage.

It was bright out here, too bright, but it was good to be outside of that tiny space Mother had left it in. The hatchling looked around, taking in everything it had dreamed of seeing again since being locked away in the dark. It walked unsteadily, not sure where to go at first. Then something far away caught its eye, something bright and flashing...

A giant red orb, brighter than Mother's optics in the dark, and brighter than the light all around it, looked to be just a few feet away. The red orb was simply a security post that flashed when enemies breached the perimeter of the base, but to the hatchling it was a shiny new toy. It went running towards it, wanting to bring it back to Mother and show her, but quickly realized that it couldn't see the ground in front of it, and stopped. The ground had suddenly slipped away, going downward in a way the hatchling didn't know it could.

It briefly worried about what happened to make the ground bend that way, but decided to keep walking anyway. It tripped instantly, and shaking it's head, realized walking down was harder than it looked. Then it remembered what Ravage kept doing while they were playing together. It turned on its side and pushed itself over. The hatchling made a sound that amounted to a human child's giggle as it rolled down the slope of the hill. Seeing it was about to crash into a row of what looked like large rocks below, it dug it's stubby fingers into the dirt to stop itself. There was a moment of slight fear, it could have landed on something it wagered to be harmful, but the moment passed and it was crawling back up to try it again.

This time it rolled farther out than expected, and the fear came back, a warning from it's cpu to catch itself before it was too late. It tried digging into the dirt again, but since it was loose, the hatchling slid down further, dangling off the side of the low cliff. To an average sized Decepticon the cliff, and the hole below it, was nothing more than a large footprint; but it was dangerous for something so small. It scrambled up the side of the mound as fast as it could, and pausing for a moment, it decided it best to leave some things alone. It was too late though, the earth beneath it was slipping away, and it went careening head first past the edge of the cliff. In the short time it glided through the air the hatchling felt the fear fade away, falling was actually kind of fun.

The feeling was fleeting though, its mission came back to the front of its cpu again in a few moments, and it tried picking itself up. It rolled over midair and grasped a few weeds in the side of the hill, trying to pull itself up, but losing its grip it fell back down, tumbling into the rocks it had narrowly missed before. A sudden excruciating pain echoed through it's frame, it never knew a feeling like this before. Crying out for its mother, it tried moving, but heard a snap, and cried even louder. It's fragile metal was still settling in on itself, getting used to the position it was in, and until it got older it's protoform would have no armor, leaving it's flexible shell exposed to cracks and fractures.

Starscream was still busy arguing with his brother about taking the hatchling to Hook, but a sudden noise caught his attention. It was faint, but he could still hear it.

"What was that?"

Thundercracker strained to hear. "…What are you talking about?"

"Quiet! There it is again." Starscream didn't realize it was the hatchling, waiting for the noise to come again.

"...Hey, I hear it too!" Skywarp whispered, turning to his brother.

Thundercracker froze. "Wait… where's the hatchling?"

Starscream was already running through the entrance.

It didn't take him but a minute to spot his child, but seeing it that way made him feel sick.

"Oh Primus, I'm so sorry little one…"

"Hey Starscream! Is it alright?"

"…Star!"

"You were right Skywarp, I should have taken it to Hook…"

Thundercracker bent down to the hatchling. "Wow… poor thing, it doesn't hurt too bad does it?"

The hatchling squeaked lowly, trying to sound cheerful. The physical pain was beginning to fade away, but the aching for it's creator hadn't left.

Starscream stooped down too, looking over the whining robot.

"I can't believe this... how could I be so careless?"

Skywarp placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "…Are you okay Star?"

"I should have been watching it, not arguing with you…"

"Well maybe, but it wasn't you're fault… Long Haul and Scrapper should have put those alarm sensors somewhere else anyway."

"Don't make it seem like you had nothing to do with this Skywarp!"

"What me? What did I do?"

"Distracted me, that's what!"

"Will you two stop fighting, you're making it cry again..." Thundercracker whispered, pointing at the distressed hatchling.

"Oh, I'm so sorry… come here." Starscream tried picking up the tiny creature, but it squealed and tried to drag itself away.

All three seekers looked confused, and as he reached out again Starscream realized it was mad at him.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I know I should have come sooner, but I didn't hear you at first…" He reached out a clawed finger this time, trying to get his child to cling to it like it did when they were alone.

The tiny hands pushed Starscream away as best they could, not wanting to be comforted that way. The hands reached up to it's creator, and squeaking quietly, waited to be pulled up.

"N-not now little one…"

"Please just hold it Star, it needs you."Thundercracker pleaded.

"Yeah, besides it's not like we'll tell anyone you're acting like a femme."

"You swore you wouldn't tell anyone about this!" Starscream growled at his brother angrily. If anyone found out they'd tell Megatron, and nothing could be worse than that.

"Well, maybe I changed my mind after all."

"Why you—"

The hatchling, who had been waiting patiently to be noticed, cried as loud as it could, making all three of its elders cringe in shock.

"Sweetie please, someone will hear!"

"No!"

"Hey, it talked!"

"…I'm sorry sweetie, please stop crying."

"Huggy now!" It had stopped screaming but it strained its voice to speak again. The tiny hands reached up again, wanting the full attention of its creator.

"Alright, alright just calm down sweetie." Starscream quickly picked up his young and let it cuddle up to his chassis, something he barely allowed even when they were alone.

Starscream didn't know much about being a creator, but he figured spoiling the child would make it weak, and Megatron would never except a weak hatchling as his own... but now that didn't matter after all. The hatchling needed medical attention, and Starscream already knew Hook would tell Megatron that he kept the child. Maybe the old medic and Sunstorm were right after all, maybe he shouldn't have kept the hatchling... but it looked so much like his mate, how could he just let it go?

Skywarp interrupted his thoughts. "...Star, we should take it to Hook, he'll take care of it."

"Yes, I suppose I don't have a choice now…" Starscream sighed. He would have to find a way to tell Megatron about this.

Thundercracker turned to head back to the base, but stopped midstep.

"...N-nevermind that guys, we've got a bigger problem!"

Skywarp whipped around to see it too. "...What is that?!"

"I-I don't know, but its headed right for the base!" Starscream quickly closed his optics, not wanting to believe what he was seeing.

Flames were spewing from it's sides, and large chunks of its frame fell from the sky, making the ground shake beneath them. Metal circles spun quickly around it, propelling it downward while it collapsed on itself. It must have been hovering, quietly lurking until someone had noticed the perimeter alarms had gone off. It was quickly being shot down, dozens of guns and cannons firing at its enormous hull.

A giant round flying ship, not cybertronian but certainly inhuman, had somehow snuck up on them. It was twice as big as the Revenge no doubt, and in a few moments it would crash right into the base.

Suddenly telling Megatron about their child didn't seem like such a big deal.

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**Author's Note:** Yes this story might get a little mushy, but what can I say, I'm a sucker for weird romances. Anyway if you like the idea of a hatchling, then tell me what you think it should be, a femme or a mech? It really killed me not to put he or she in any of its parts. If you don't like the idea of Star and Meg having a kid then you'd better find something else to read. XD Also try checking out the pic I drew or Ravage from a while ago, the link is on my profile page. Maybe I'll do a quick sketch of the hatchling later... See ya!


	2. Enter The Sandmen

**Author's Note: Yeah, sorry for the wait, but I had to study for finals next week. I'm not sure if its longer than the last chapter, so sorry if its not, I did try. I'm a little too tired to read everything over again, so if something's wrong I'll fix it later. I suppose I'll try something new with my stories, actually responding to the reviews. XD Here's goes nothing! TF is copyright of Has/Tak.**

1-Countess Vanilla: A femme you say? Hmm, I'll think about it.

2-Jin Ridan: I figured TC needed something funny to do when there's an awkward scene. His OCD is nothing compared to Frenzy's though! XD

3-Grimmlock47: Heads up, you're in this chapter. XD Well I guess that's one for femme, one for mech. -_-

4-RealtaBeic: First off hug! I think that's the longest review I've gotten yet. XD Meggy's going to be surprised alright! I suppose you won't like Warp too much this chappy though. And another vote for femme.

That means Femme-2, Mech-1! We'll see for sure after the next chapter.

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When the ship crashed, a wave of smoke and sand swirled around, clouding the view of any 'con unlucky enough to be caught in its choking grasp. Everyone quickly moved away from the area, desperately clearing out their vents of the cloudy air. No one noticed as a group of cars zipped behind them, heading off to the outskirts of the base.

Megatron and Soundwave had luckily exited just before the ship was shot down, and both tensed when they realized where it had landed. Sector C and the hangar of the base were completely crushed, burying the remains of the Decepticon's old ship, the Nemesis. The Constructicons let out a collective curse, they had been trying to repair it for months.

The ship creaked for several minutes, the engine power finally winding down. Nothing moved, and for a moment it seemed like the vessel had piloted itself. A silent awe fell over them as a hatch clicked open on the hull, a few mechs inching back in fear. Megatron waited for something to come out, but after a minute he decided to greet the visitors himself.

"M-megatron wait!"

"If they won't come out, were going in!"

"But sir..."

As he walked up he ran a quick scan with his heat sensors. There had to be something in there, but it wasn't showing up. The hatch seemed a lot smaller from farther away, and standing in front of it, he realized whatever was hiding in it was three times his size.

"Well...what is it?" someone called from behind.

Megatron shook his head and lifted his laser cannon, firing inside twice. "Who knows, but it should be dead now."

There was a muffled scream and smoke funneled out of the hole, shrouding the victim. A clatter sounded throughout the tunnel, it seemed like whatever was inside was crawling away. The others shifted around nervously, and only Soundwave dared to come to his leader's side.

"Sir, there should be more of them."

"I know, that's why we're going in."

"I wouldn't recommend that sir, why not send in someone else?"

"What are you talking about?"

The officer nodded toward Shrapnel, who was currently using Bombshell and Kickback as shields.

"I suppose you're right, its better to use someone disposable. Shrapnel report!"

The Insecticon tried to hide his shivering as he inched closer to them.

"Y-yes sir."

"Why don't you go first?"

"What? No way, why me?"

"Because I don't like you."

"...But sir I--"

"You either go in yourself or I'll kick you in, your choice."

Shrapnel whimpered and walked in slowly, shaking more than ever.

A minute passed before the beetle could be heard coming back, and he know had a relieved smile on his faceplates.

"There's nothing there?" Megatron sounded disappointed as he said it.

"Nope, I guess this thing was run by only one person after all, I didn't see anything!"

"...You didn't huh?"

The Insecticon froze on the spot, the voice had come from behind him.

"Hey, its you!"

"Well, its good to know my new cloaking device works." Their was a hint of laughter in the voice now.

A deafening shot fired, and even Soundwave flinched. There was a loud thud from inside, and shrapnel's helmet rolled to the ground in front of his teammates.

Bombshell stared at it in horrified shock. "...Brother?"

"...Enemy has shown up on radar sir, its--"

"Mirage... and its nice to see you again too." the mech smirked as he lifted his laser rifle.

"What?! How did you dodge that?" Megatron growled.

"I didn't, you hit Wheeljack instead, which the Dynobots won't like by the way."

"...The Dino whats?" Cyclonus snickered and aimed a gun at the Autobot.

Mirage reacted so quickly no one could tell he had fired until they heard a yell. Cyclonus hissed and gripped his injured arm, precious energon spilling from the wound. Hook instinctively rushed over to help him.

"You all should surrender now, if you know what's good for you. The Dynobots are pretty tired, and even I don't like waking them up."

Megatron glared at the mech, unbelieving. How could anything sleep through that crash? He had to be bluffing...

"Whatever, your little friends are gonna be toast, just like you!" Swindle quickly subspaced a machine gun and aimed at the ship.

The blue and silver casually sidestepped the bullets, and sighed. "That wasn't very nice... I suppose I have no choice, if you won't leave, I'll just have to call them." he pressed a button on the side of the metal wall and a screeching alarm sounded all through the ship.

A roar higher than the siren came from somewhere inside, and Megatron glanced around curiously. Whatever was in there could be stronger than Prime.

Soundwave turned to his leader. "Sir, we could be outnumbered..."

"Hold your ground, I want to know who they are."

"We're the Dynobots stupid!" An angry mechanical voice echoed loudly from behind Mirage, who quickly moved out of the way. Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw activated their guns and tried locking on to the enemy, but he instantly dissapeared. The two minicons hissed and returned to their creator.

"Its no use bro, clearly they can't hear." A high pitched squawking mech answered.

The other mech roared louder. "Then we'll just have to show them!"

The ground suddenly shook again as loud footfalls came closer to the hatch exit. Soundwave quickly stepped in front of Megatron, putting a protective barrier in front of them.

"...Soundwave can't you tell who it is yet?"

"No sir, the radar does not recognize these signals, but one of them is quite large."

"...Well in that case, I suppose we should fall back a bit."

"Fall back? Why not retreat?!" Dirge finally worked up the guts to ask.

Megatron turned toward him, glaring fiercely. "You can run away like a femme if you'd like, but don't bother coming back."

Cyclonus raised his weapon again, slight fear in his optics. "Lord Megatron, its here!"

The silver leader whipped around, weapons armed. "W-what the..."

A robot bigger than any other Autobot he'd ever seen was stepping out, and now it was obvious why the hatch was so wide. It was in the shape of an animal he had never seen before, all teeth and claws, and a tail bigger than him.

"You Decepticons?"

Megatron took a big step back. From the way it talked it had to be a drone, but the anger in its optics said otherwise.

"Which one of you hurt the boss?!"

A few Decepticons looked in Megatron's direction, and Kickback even dared to point.

He growled angrily, about to turn his weapons on them. "Why you little--"

"Me Grimlock, leader of Dynobots!"

A small flying mech squawked overhead. "And we're very sorry, but we have to crush you now."

"Grimlock not sorry at all! If you hurt boss then you pay!"

Megatron suddenly lost his nerve. He wasn't usually one to run away, but he wasn't dumb enough to stay. Besides, he had to find Starscream anyway...

"Well Soundwave, I think its time to go!"

"Indeed sir."

"Hey, you're just going to ditch us?!"

"We'll be right back, I'm sure the rest of you can handle them."

The two of them took off, the other flyers followed their lead, leaving the ground mechs on their own.

Megatron looked back, only to see a beam headed his way, and quickly dodged it. The drone that had been some type of lizard was chasing after them, although very slowly. He nearly laughed, if this was the best the Autobots had, they had no chance of rescuing the girl.

Soundwave glanced around as they were flying, looking for his younglings. Both the twins and Ravage were unaccounted for. He quickly sent them an emergency message, but it came back with an error. He silently hoped they were safe as he turned to their leader.

"...Sir, communications are down."

"What?!"

"Communications are down."

"I heard you!"

"We need to find those that are missing."

"You can find your underlings later Soundwave, its the enemy you should be worried about."

"...Yes lord Megatron, but the Seekers and the Combaticons are not present either."

Megatron suddenly remembered that the trine were still watching the human brat. He made sure the Dynobot drone was far behind before landing.

"...Frag that seeker." He knew having another mate was a bad idea.

"Sir where are you going?"

"To the underground sector, The emergency lines should still be running, I'll be able to reach them that way." Able to reach Starscream to be exact.

Soundwave landed too, "...Sir, I thought we were to focus on the enemy?"

Megatron glared at him but didn't answer. He was mad at himself too though, since when did his obnoxious commander become his priority?

For a subcommander he was acting pretty pathetic. Starscream winced at the sudden pain in his spark, he was feeling sick again. Leaving his tiny hatchling alone back in the tower made him more nervous then he'd ever been in his life. Skywarp had assured him it would be fine, after all the hatchling couldn't just get up and run away again. Then again, it couldn't even crawl away from an enemy if it was found. A new feeling settled in, and suddenly Starscream felt like punching his brother. He rethought it immediately though, as his brother was the one carrying him back toward the base.

The trine leader had never felt so helpless, clinging to Skywarp's wings, and silently cursing the twins. He had no regrets about scratching up his brother's new paint however, and considered it one of the first ways he'd repay the mech for annoying him.

"At this rate we'll never get there in time, you two should go ahead and help."

"No way, we're not leaving you, we don't even know what's attacking!"

"...Sure we do, look down there!"

"The Autobot medics are here? But why are they alone?"

"Their not, someone's just behind them." Starscream hissed, he didn't recognize that mech.

"Its Ultra Magnus! What's he doing here?"

"Who's that?"

"One of Prime's cousins, but he's supposed to be dead!"

"How come I've never heard of him?"

"He was a politician, I doubt he can fight."

"Oh really? Then we'll have no problem with him!"

"Maybe we should call for backup, just in case."

"We don't need help, and besides, the comlinks are still out."

"Don't worry Thunder, we can take him."

"I wouldn't advise that Star, he's much stronger than you think."

Starscream knew that voice by heart. His spark felt like it would burst. "Jetfire?!"

Skywarp pointed his thrusters in front of him, instantly flipping himself around and aiming his weapons. Starscream didn't expect his brother to react so quickly, and felt himself slip. He had never been afraid of falling before, but after taking a dive off the roof a while ago, he knew it wasn't going to end well. Maybe it was for the best though, he'd probably get knocked unconscious, and wouldn't have to worry about his hatchling anymore. He closed his optic lids, expecting to crash any second. He felt a tug on his waist, someone had caught him just in time.

"Don't worry Star, I've got you."

"...Jet?" Starscream turned around to hold his shoulders.

"No its Skyfire now, remember?"

Starscream felt like he couldn't breathe, the mech was staring right into his optics.

"W-what are you doing here?"

A dreamy smile lit up the face. "I'm here to save you apparently. I see you're brother is still mad at me."

"Don't worry, he's mad at everyone. Sorry you had to catch me..."

"Its fine, I'm just glad I was here."

"Yeah, me too..."

Skyfire spotted the scars and dents on the seeker's wings. "You really shouldn't be so reckless."

Starscream nodded, barely listening.

The seeker suddenly forgot what they were in such a rush for. Jetfire always had some kind of magical spell over him, it was so hard to look away from those optics.

"I missed you..." He whispered.

What was he saying? He was Megatron's mate, not this Autobot's. But he suddenly had trouble remembering why that was. Jetfire had always been good to him... but this wasn't Jet, it was just a younger rebuilt version of him. He was completely different now, but still had the memories of them being together.

Skyfire kept smiling, and gently brushed the side of the seeker's helmet. "You too Star, its been too long."

"Hey! Let go of my brother before I fry you!"

"Stop it Warp, its fine!"

"No it is not fine, we have to help Megatron! You remember him don't you? He is your m--"

A shot fired, and Skywarp felt energon trickling down his faceplate.

"...Shut up Warp." Starscream's glare was serious, he wasn't going to let his brother get in the way of him and Jetfire again.

Thundercracker finally spoke up, shocked by their leader's actions. "S-starscream what are you doing?!"

"Star... that wasn't necessary." Even Skyfire looked upset with him now.

The seeker ignored the questioning look and glared at his cousin. "I'm just putting him in his place, like I should do to you!"

"What? We're you're wing mates, not your servants, you can't treat us this way, right Warp?"

Skywarp didn't respond, staring at the ground as he brushed the fluid off his wound.

"...Warp?"

"Hey Sky, we've gotta go now, forget about them!"

"...Of course, I'm coming."

Starscream sighed, he had only caught glimpses of the Autobot until now. "Skyfire...please don't go."

"I have to, we are fighting after all. Besides, I think you two need to make up..." He glanced in Skywarp's direction.

Starscream was suddenly worried, it was always hard to read the mech's emotions, but he knew his brother was angry.

The Aerialbot drifted over to Thundercracker, assuming Skywarp wouldn't take his leader back.

"What are you doing?" Skywarp flashed over in an instant, taking Starscream in his arms.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought--"

"Come on Fire, we'll deal with them later!"

"I'll be right there!"

He turned back to Skywarp, a concerned look in his optics. "You should be more careful with him."

"I don't need to hear that from you after what you did to him."

Starscream felt the anger rise up in him again, Skywarp was really pushing his luck today.

"Right well...I'll see you later Star."

"Sure thing... Jet."

The Aerialbot didn't smile back this time, a hurt look in his optics. He drifted back up to his own wing mates, and they we're gone in an instant.

Starscream watched them go, and sighed as he looked up at his brother. "Skywarp... I'm sorry."

"...I am too."

"For what?"

"For doing this."

Starscream screeched as he was dropped again, only this time it was intentional. Thundercracker flew after him, grabbing his arms just before Starscream could fall into the trees just below.

Skywarp glared at them, flying down so they could hear him. "Good, now you can carry his heavy aft."

"Why you! How could you do that to me?!"

"And how could you shoot me? I'm you're brother!"

"No! You're my half brother! Even Saigot didn't want you!"

"...That's fine, I'm the one who killed him anyway."

"...You what?!" Starscream was shocked, and nearly fell again as he tried to reach Skywarp, forgetting his wings were still damaged.

Thundercracker held their leader back as Starscream tried to attack his brother. "Look you guys, we've got no time for this!"

"Oh no Thunder, we've got time because this fragger needs to explain himself."

"There's nothing to else to say, I always hated him."

"But he was our father-creator! How could you?"

"Funny you should find it so shocking, Megatron killed Sentinel Prime didn't he?"

"...But he said Prime wasn't his father in the first place, its not the same!"

"You just find any exscuse to protect him don't you? He's nuts Starscream, a great leader, but nuts."

Starscream growled. "And I suppose you're any better?"

"At least I had a reason to hate our father, he only cared about my mother and your sister. We we're never anything to him..." Skywarp looked pained as he said it.

"Maybe you weren't."

"If he loved you so much then why was he willing to trade you for you're sister's life?"

"Just shut up! I hate you!" Tears were welling up in Starscream's optics, but he refused to look weak and held them back.

Skywarp flinched, he'd clearly struck a nerve, but he had to continue.

"No, you just hate to hear the truth! You're always like this! You always want things you're way, that's the only reason you're with Megatron! You just trying to control him so you can get whatever you want!"

"That's not true! I love him... and I love you two... I just..."

"You're just confused?" Thundercracker gave him a comforting smile.

Starscream nodded shyly. "I'm sorry you guys..."

Skywarp looked toward the base. "Forget about it, we've have to go."

"Yeah...you're right." Starscream wanted to be offlined again, all of this was too much for him right now...

Meanwhile Megatron was trying to reach the seekers and warn them to escape with the human child, but no one was answering.

"Starscream!"

"..."

"Starscream come in!"

No answer came, only static.

Megatron was getting annoyed. Where was the Seeker?

All the radio frequencies were jammed, which meant no com links. Only the manual radio panels were active, but were only connected to the main sections of the base. The only way to contact anyone was to hope they heard the shouting from a door's panel. If anyone was out of earshot, they were out of luck.

Megatron growled in anger, Starscream couldn't fly away if he was in danger... he was practically helpless.

"I'm sure he can still fight Megatron, he should be fine."

"Not now Soundwave!" He was sick of the mech knowing his thoughts.

"...Sorry sir, it won't happen again."

"Never mind that, what's wrong with the radio?"

The communications officer scanned the device and shook his head. "Signal is at 82 percent sir."

"Frag it all, why won't he answer?! Of all times for him to go missing..."

"It's no use sir, he must not be in the security center."

"But that's where he was stationed today, where else would he be?"

"...Perhaps we should assist the others sir?"

"If they can't handle one fight by themselves then their useless!"

"Many of them could receive injuries my lord."

"Forget about them, its the Autobots we need to get rid of!"

"Very well sir."

Megatron led the way outside, just in time to meet Optimus Prime as he pulled up.

The Coneheads and the Aerialbots were circling each other overhead. Beams and rays filled the sky, but not one seeker was around.

So they were all missing? Starscream was up to something again...

Starscream knew it was wrong, but there was no point in holding back now. He was close by for once, and it might be the only chance to do it...

Starscream could see the base's gate just a few feet ahead, the sun glared off it, and he closed his optics as he opened the sparkbond between himself and Skyfire. It felt like a dozen different emotions were crushing him, but he knew he had to bear it for now. He had to do this eventually.

"Jet--no Skyfire, can you hear me?"

"...Star?! Where are you?"

"I can't believe it... you can still feel this after all!"

"..."

"Skyfire? Are you still there?"

"You never broke our bond?"

"I couldn't, you we're already..."

"Deactivated?"

"Well, yes. Then you got reformatted and I thought your half was broken."

"...Star, we need to talk, in person."

"That's true, but I think we're both pretty busy right now..."

"You know I'll find a way."

Starscream smiled faintly as he and Thundercracker landed next to the base. That was something the old Jetfire would say to make him feel better.

"Of course...you always do."

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**Author's Note: I know, I got a little lazy at some parts, but I'll probably fix it up later. The spaceship will be explained later, as I didn't think it fit too well anywhere. I bet you can't guess what Magnus and the medics are up to! XP Skyfire won't be in the story for much longer, but he will serve his purpose next time. Anyway, It'll be about a week before the next chappy as we have finals soon. Any complaints will be eaten by the Dynobots, so beware. XD Alright I'm taking a nap now. -_-**


	3. Sweet Dreams of Never Waking

**_Author's Note:_ This sucks, a new TF game finally comes out and I can't get it. -_- If I wasn't so tired I'd be uber pissed. Don't feel like reading over, just want sleep. I'll check it when I wake up. The _Italics_ in the first half are just what someone is thinking to themselves, the second half is all in italics to indicate its the past (best I can do since there's no way to change the font, sorry). **

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"_You know I'll always be here to catch you Star..."_

He shivered at those words, they had no meaning to them now. Skyfire had left him again, and that wasn't the worst part. Even though they had chased the Autobots off in the end, they had still lost their leader... and Starscream had lost his child.

Skywarp had been wrong as always, leaving the hatchling was a horrible idea. He tried holding back tears as he remembered what it said to him.

"_Don't leave me Mommy!"_

"_...It'll be okay sweetie, we'll be right back. I promise." _

He promised, and it was a lie, just like the others.

He should have done what his instinct had told him, stay and protect his child. It had looked so scared after being injured, but at that moment helping Megatron seemed more important. Now that he thought about it, if he had never left none of this would have happened. He never would have run into Skyfire, his hatchling would be safe with him, and Megatron wouldn't have chased after him and gotten hurt. It was all his fault, and suddenly he wondered if he should bother telling Megatron about the hatchling now... it was probably better off with the Autobots.

Starscream felt his spark sink at that thought and he finally gave in to the tears. There was no point in holding back his emotions now, no one was around after all.

"...Star? Are you in there?" Thundercracker's voice sifted in from the room just outside. He must have just got here, but Starscream hadn't heard the door open, which meant Skywarp was here too.

"...Just go away." He didn't want anyone to hold him while he cried and tell him everything would be okay. He didn't feel like hearing anymore lies, Skyfire and 'Warp had already done enough of that.

"But Star I'm worried about you, and if you came here to see Megatron then come out and be with him, stop hiding in there."

"...He's unconscious Thunder, he won't know if him beside him or not, so it doesn't matter."

"It matters to me and 'Warp so just come out already!"

"I can't. I can't look at my mate knowing he's dying because of me, but I can't leave him here alone either, everyone would talk about me..."

"Forget about them, what's important is that he knows you love him."

"I don't think he believes that anymore. Even Soundwave is convinced I tried to kill him..."

Skywarp's booming voice sounded through the door. "Listen 'Screamer, if you don't get out here in five clicks I'm gonna tell Hook to quit fixing your wings."

Starscream flinched slightly, that was low even for Skywarp, but he was only joking of course.

"I'm not coming out. I'll stay here until I've got a reason to move." He didn't want Skywarp to tease him for crying. His brother wasn't exactly the sensitive type.

"I'm serious 'Screamer, I'll tell him you want to be a ground mech from now on. I'm sure he could use the parts for something else anyway." Skywarp sounded far too happy to leave him crippled.

"Sure you will." Starscream wasn't in the mood for games right now.

Skywarp sighed and started counting. "Five...four...three...two-"

"Hey look, Hook's coming this way!" Thundercracker chimed.

The sub-commander quickly unlocked the storage room door and peeked outside.

"Oh, there you are 'Screamer, feels like we haven't seen you in ages, how's it going?" Skywarp was clearly trying to cheer him up, but the sarcastic nickname always ticked him off.

"Well you got me out here, now what do you want?"

Thundercracker motioned to the medic as he walked in. Starscream frowned, for once they weren't joking. Hook put on his best fake smile as he glanced over at Megatron.

"Nothing much, I just want you to test something."

"What's that?" Starscream tried not to sound worried.

"Well I believe your presence could help Megatron, but I'm afraid sitting in my storage room won't have much effect." The medic had a glare that made him want to hide again.

Hook headed to the corner of the medbay where Megatron was sleeping. Starscream sighed in defeat and slowly followed the others. Megatron seemed so peaceful right now, and the seeker couldn't help but wonder if his leader always looked this innocent when he slept.

He had never gotten the chance to see since the mech had a habit of staying up for orns on end, just watching over him as he slept. Perhaps that was Megatron's way of showing he cared, but being so protective of the seeker was what got him injured in the first place.

Starscream shivered again as he sat on the berth. Megatron was dying because he had rushed to save his mate, something everyone had said just wasn't like him. Of course they hadn't known the truth of their relationship at first; but after Starscream had nearly clawed them to shreds for touching Megatron, it was obvious that he and the leader were more than they appeared.

He leaned over the berth to whisper in his mate's audios. "I'm so sorry Megatron, I never should have told Skyfire to come... I just wanted to tell him it was over so I wouldn't hurt you...I love you."

He silently promised to say the same apology every day until his mate woke up. It had already been a month, at this rate he might not awaken at all... but he had to, otherwise Starscream would be all alone...

His brother's sudden yelling interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey! Did you see that?" Skywarp looked excited as he pointed at one of the machines near the berth.

"See what?" Thundercracker asked, tilting his head the same way Megatron did when he was confused.

Hook quickly pushed past them to take a closer look at the monitor. Starscream left his mate's side, slightly worried.

"Is there something wrong?"

Hook smiled for real as he glanced over the data. "No, not at all... in fact it seems you're doing him some good after all. Look here." He flashed through a few images on the screen then paused it.

"See that? His sparkbeat is a little stronger than just a few minutes ago, It's safe to say if you stay with him you'll help speed up his recovery."

"Really? Well that's great I guess..."

Hook's hopeful smile faded as quickly as it appeared. "What do you mean by that exactly? We're you hoping he'd stay asleep forever?"

Starscream came to his senses, he didn't realize he'd said it aloud.

"No, that's not what I meant at all, of course I want him to wake up, just not too soon. Otherwise he might remember what happened, and I would really prefer if he forgot."

'_You want me to forget? Well that's too bad for you...' _Megatron tried his best to glare at the seeker, but his optic lids wouldn't open. He still couldn't move an inch? How much more irritating could this get? He could hear every word of it, everything they said to each other, and more importantly what Starscream had said to him.

_'I never should have told Skyfire to come...I wouldn't hurt you...I love you.' _It was nothing but lies, all of it. _'If you do love me like you say, then why would you have called that Autobot? Or why did you run away while I was being gunned down by that same Autobot? What kind of mate would do that?'_

One that wanted him dead of course. It was easy for Starscream to say he'd done nothing wrong since he didn't shoot Megatron himself, but his old partner must have been persuaded to instead. Megatron was sure of it. Anger began to rise in him again, and he felt his spark race faster. If only Starscream would come close again, then all that rage might be enough to get his body to move.

"...Oh, I see. But do you really believe you'll get out of this the easy way? After all there are still other secrets you've yet to tell him..."

Starscream pretended not to notice his trine mates staring as he turned away. "Don't worry about that, I'll tell him as soon as he wakes up."

_'__Tell me what?' Megatron was getting irritated.  
_

"That's good, I'm glad you're doing it, otherwise I would have to tell him. Anyway, I have to go now, I'll come by later to check on him."

_'__What's this secret? Was there another attack? Did they lose something important? Someone say it already!'_

A few moments later the seeker was at his side again, but this time something was different... Megatron could feel the warmth of the smaller hands grasping his tightly, holding him like he would disappear any second.

"I love you Megatron, so please wake up... Just not too soon okay?"

" _I won't forget anything, no matter how long I lie here! You just wait until I-" _Megatron felt his anger quickly being pushed down. Starscream was resting his chassis on top of his, and the nearby pulse of his mate's spark was too calming to ignore. He barely felt a gentle kiss on his helmet as the jet curled up to him, his frame relaxing at the familiar feeling. As much as he hated to admit it, his little seeker was comforting. All he wanted was to hold the smaller mech, and even though he couldn't see he knew Starscream looked cute.

"Uh, you want us to leave you alone with him, cause I don't really want to be scarred for life..." Thundercracker mumbled lowly while sorting syringes on Hook's desk.

Skywarp muttered a few curses to himself, he hated seeing Starscream so close to Megatron.

"Oh please, It's not like I'm doing anything, but you should probably leave anyway. I'm sure you two have work to do."

With that his wingmates promptly left, still assuming he would do something to what might as well be a corpse. It took him a while to succumb to recharge, but his dreams quickly turned to nightmares.

_At least in his memories his leader was still walking around. The silver mech glanced around and spotted him._

_"Starscream? Where the frag have you been!"_

_The sub-commander half smiled, he loved making his mate nervous._

_"Hello to you too Megatron. We just had a little trouble on our way here..." Think of an excuse fast...  
_

_Skywarp easily covered for them."Yeah, we ran into the Aerialbots, so we had to take care of them first."_

_Megatron nodded before grabbing his mate's wrist and leading him away from the others. _

_"Are you alright? I was... worried." It sounded like he hadn't used that word in ages._

_"Really?" The seeker practically glowed, that was the closest thing to I love you when it came to Megatron. _

_"...Don't get any ideas, I still find you annoying." The stubborn leader refused to give in to the sparkling eyes, there was no way he was ever saying he loved anyone ever again._

_"Well how sweet of you..." Starscream decided to get to the point. "Are the rest of the Autobots here?"_

_"Don't worry, you know I'll always protect you."Megatron looked determined as he said it._

_"Boss over here!" Swindle was waving them over frantically.  
_

_Starscream ignored the red and white and continued."I'm not as weak as you think, I can take care of myself."_

_Megatron smirked and turned back to his men. "Good then let's go, the others are waiting."_

_"Look boss, I think their retreating!" Swindle pointed near the horizon where Optimus Prime and his team were disappearing in the fading light._

_"That didn't take long... but they didn't find the girl, right Starscream?"_

_The jet winced at the mention of the lost human."...About that Megatron, I'm not exactly sure where she is."_

_"What? I thought I told you to-"_

_A sudden attack had caught him off guard and sent him flying back._

_"Hello Megatron, seems you haven't changed one bit." It was that familiar voice again, only now it sounded more hateful than Starscream knew it could._

_"Jetfire!" He instantly regretted sounding so happy to see him._

_The Decepticon leader stood up, a look of annoyance in his crimson optics."Took care of them did you?"_

_"Megatron I can explain..."_

_"Oh you will, after I kill him."_

_"No Megatron wait! I need to talk to him."_

_"What? What's going on with you?" Starscream could hear the suspicion and jealousy in his voice._

_"Please, just let me handle this alright?" The seeker didn't wait for an answer, and took off towards Skyfire. _

_"Starscream where are you going?" Megatron called after him. How was he supposed to protect the seeker if he kept disappearing?  
_

_"Skyfire!" Starscream knew he couldn't catch up on foot, so he called after the other jet, trying to get him to land._

_His wingmates and Megatron tried to follow him, but the rest of the Aerialbots raced ahead to block them. _

_"Skyfire over here!"__ The mech finally turned around._

_"...Star?" he quickly landed behind an empty building and waved the Decepticon over._

_"I didn't think you'd actually come back... It could have waited." Starscream tried not to sound nervous._

_"I'm sorry Star, but I had to say this now." There was a hardened gaze coming from the yellow optics._

_"Wait, I have to tell you something first, Megatron is-"_

_"Your mate, I know...Skywarp made that obvious. But If he dies your bond will break, and we can be together again." Skyfire reached out to grab Starscream's hand, but he pulled away._

_The Decepticon instantly felt disgusted."What are you saying? I'm not going to kill my mate!"_

_"Don't worry about that, I'll be happy to do it for you, there's no way I'll let him get away for forcing you into this..."_

_"He didn't force me to Skyfire, this is what I wanted!"_

_"There's no reason to lie Star, he's not close enough to hear yet-" Skyfire tried to hold him, but Starscream pulled away again.  
_

_"I'm not lying! I love him more than anyone... including you!"_

_Now Skyfire looked hurt."You don't mean that Star!"_

_"But I do! That's why I stayed with him all this time! That's why I put up with him hurting me! That's why I kept his hatchling!"_

_Skyfire blinked, unbelieving."...His...hatchling?" The shocked look he had almost made Starscream feel sorry for him._

_"That's right... he may not be ready to meet it just yet, but I know he'll be a good father...and a better mate than you were."_

_"...Break it."_

_"What?"_

_"Break our bond. Please just do it now..." Skyfire looked like he wanted to kill someone._

_Starscream looked down, the stare was too much for him."That's what I wanted to do in the first place...but it could kill us to try."_

_"I don't care, do it."_

_"Do what?" Skywarp swooped down to spy on them, leaving T.C. to fight alone._

_Starscream shot his own glare at his brother."Warp? Stay away, this has nothing to do with you-"_

_Skywarp pretended he couldn't hear over the noise of his engines."Do what?"_

_"So you don't know about it?"_

_"Skyfire please, this is between us!" Starscream said lowly._

_"Fine...then just do it Star, before I change my mind."_

_"But will you be okay? I don't want to hurt you."_

_"It's too late for that."_

_"Hey 'Fire come on, Magnus says their heading back for it now!" Silverbolt called down as he dodged Warp's missile. While the Decepticon's radio signals were blocked, the Autobot transmissions were still working._

_"What?" Skyfire quickly turned on his comlink, just in time to catch the last signal._

_"-Repeat we have not located Annabelle, but we will rescue the abandoned hatchling at the tower near the south gate exit. All remaining air units head to the following coordinates to provide backup-"_

_"Their really going to take it?" Skyfire whispered to himself._

_"What is it? Did they find the human girl?"_

_"No, their going after someone they saw earlier."_

_Starscream quickly realized he said someone not something."...My hatchling?"_

_"If it's the one in the tower, yes."_

_He felt the panic in him rising. "...But they can't take it, it's mine!"_

_"They don't know that!"_

_"Don't know what? What's happening 'Screamer?" Skywarp finally landed nearby, taking aim at Skyfire while he shot overhead._

_Starscream turned to him, fear in his optics."Their going after the hatchling!"_

_"Your kidding right?"_

_"Of course not! You said it would be fine, but what if they hurt it?"_

_Skyfire shook his head. "They wouldn't do that Star. They just want to protect it."_

_Thundercracker called from above as he dodged a beam."Heads up guys, Megatron's coming this way!"_

_"Frag! Isn't anyone strong enough to keep him back?" The trine leader hissed. Things were getting worse fast._

_"If you're going to get to the hatchling in time, you have to leave now Star!"_

_"What about them?" Starscream knew the other Aerialbots wouldn't let him go so easily again._

_"Don't worry, we'll take care of it 'Screamer!" With that Skywarp transformed and flew off, leading the enemies jets with him. Thundercracker followed close behind his cousin, and Starscream hoped they'd be alright._

_"Go while you can Star!"_

_"But Megatron will follow me to it, and he can't see the hatchling yet... he'll think something else is going on."_

_"Don't worry, I won't let him harm it...even if it's not mine." There was another thing Jetfire would have said. "I'll hold him off for you."_

_This wasn't Jetfire though, he was stronger. "...Thanks 'Fire. Just try not to hurt him." _

_Skyfire didn't mind lying this once."I'll try my best, now go."_

_Starscream peeked around the corner of the half destroyed building before realizing Megatron was only a few meters away now. _

_He quickly landed and reached out for the seeker. Starscream felt the momentary urge to run to his mate and tell him their child was in trouble. But would he even care? Megatron moved forward and in an instant the seeker whipped around and ran as fast as he could towards the gate, ignoring his mate's furious calls._

_"Starscream what are you doing? Get back here!" Megatron started after him, but Skyfire made sure to shoot out an engine's thrusters._

_The Autobot quickly aimed for the openings in his rival's armor. Taking out a few energon lines would surely weaken him._

_'I'm sorry Star, but I won't hold back on him this time... this time I'll kill him for sure. Then you'll see things my way.'_

_"...Skyfire wasn't it? I see you have the habit of stealing mates, just like your old self. You haven't changed either." Megatron growled._

_"He was mine to begin with, and he always will be. So you can give him up or die, your choice." Skyfire planned on killing him anyway, but having proof the mech didn't love Starscream would be useful._

_Megatron didn't hesitate to answer. "Is that so? Then I'd rather die!" _

_Skyfire flinched. That was a surprising answer."...Fine, have it your way!"_

_Starscream could hear distant shots behind him, but he kept running. There was no turning back now. He had to get their in time, had to save his hatchling before the Autobot scum got to it, or before it got the idea to try finding him. With the severe injury it had it couldn't walk far without completely breaking its leg...if it crawled away and got hurt it could die. He could lose the one thing that could change Megatron. The one thing that could make his mate happy again._

But he didn't get there in time. He didn't even get to see them take his hatchling, so there was no proof they even had it. It could be dead somewhere in the woods, or captured by some stupid humans who would only torture it. He could easily think of a dozen different scenarios for the child, but none of them were good. There was one he kept holding on to though, that it would remember where the tower was and find its way back there. Luckily every Cybertronian had an imprint of where they were born, a faint memory burned into the back of their cpu. He went back every morning before the others awoke from recharge to check if it was there, but no luck. It was probably dead after all. That thought stirred him awake.

He suddenly felt like crying again for the hundredth time since the battle. He slowly lifted himself from the berth, making sure not to glance at Megatron as he stood. He hated looking at an empty face that only stared back, hated seeing the unmoving shell of his mate. Starscream wished he could take back everything he said before, he didn't want his mate to wake up for a while, but this was quickly becoming hopeless. It was over three months now that he'd been sleeping.

Starscream decided to go check the tower for what would be the last time.

He reached a hand back to clutch the silver one resting on the berth.

"I'm sorry Megatron...I'm so sorry. I should have just told you."

The seeker suddenly felt the hand slowly tighten around his, and he turned back.

"Told me what Starscream?"

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**Author's Note: ** **I've got to find new nicknames for everyone, it driving me crazy to type the same things so much. Don't worry too much about the hatchling, its Starscream that's really in trouble now. XD Anyway I'm tired so Its off to bed.**


	4. In The Face of Anger

**Author's Note:** Sorry I didn't update when I said I would, but that's what happens when you procrastinate with summer classes. I'm getting better at posting though, at least it hasn't been a year like my other stories. XP I actually had it done for a week, I just had to edit it, but that's hard to do when your cat keeps jumping on the keyboard. Meggy's reactions might be different from what would be expected, but I figure it's more fun this way.

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Starscream turned around slowly, not sure if he was still dreaming. No, there his mate was, staring at him, holding his hand while he stood there about to faint.

"...M-megatron? You're awake!" He instantly flew back to the berth, burying himself in the silver frame. He'd never felt so relieved in his life.

The sudden move caught the other off guard, Megatron was sure his air commander would run away. "Starscream I-"

"I was so worried that you wouldn't wake up..." The seeker wished the leader would hold him, but he knew that was asking too much.

Megatron lifted the younger mech's helmet, a serious look in his optics. "All of that can wait, first I want to know what's going on."

Starscream suddenly felt nervous. "You mean you still remember everything? ...Please listen, I didn't mean for anything to happen, I just...I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry too, I should have trusted you." His voice was so gentle, and Starscream couldn't help but wonder if he really remembered everything.

_'Wait, did Megatron just apologize? That isn't like him at all.'_ "...What's wrong with you? Why are you so calm? Normally you'd yell at me or hit me." '_Or do other things...' _

"I don't have any reason to be mad anymore, and I don't care what happened. All I know is that you didn't want me to get hurt, and that's all that matters."

Starscream didn't believe it, was he actually being forgiven? "But I didn't tell you anything..."

"It's fine, you happen to talk a lot in your sleep. Apologizing to me everyday helped too I suppose." The larger mech half smiled and pulled his mate closer.

The jet felt his spark race faster, it was the first time he'd seen his mate a little happy. "...You're really not mad?" He felt like he was talking to Saigot now.

Megatron shook his head, but his serious gaze returned. "No, not about that anyway. But if something else has happened you'd better tell me now, while I'm still in a good mood."

Even though it didn't sound like a threat, Starscream was still fearful. "Uh, well I don't know if there's any point now... it probably doesn't matter anymore."

His mate gave him a disappointed look, clearly he was expecting more. "If Hook said it was important, than it is. Now please tell me."

He hated to make an excuse again, especially when Megatron was being so nice; but it was his only option. "Well, we found the human girl, but we can't contact the Autobots, so they must have changed locations again..." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't what he needed to tell Megatron either.

Megatron looked even more disappointed. "That's all? I thought it was something worse than that." All that time he spent worrying was for nothing.

"I told you it wasn't important..." Starscream shivered like he always did when he was scared.

"Why are you shaking? Are you alright?"

He looked away, flattered his mate was concerned about him despite his injury. "Its nothing, besides you're the one that's hurt. I should call Hook for you."

Megatron reached out and pulled him back, wrapping an arm around the jet as he whispered to him. "...I love you Star."

The seeker felt his temperature rise. Did Megatron really just blurt that out or was he imagining things? "...W-what?"

"Isn't that what you wanted to hear? You've been saying it to me all the time, I suppose you deserve to hear it back." A clawed hand reached up to trace the outline of the jet's fragile chassis, but Starscream quickly pulled away.

"Now I really think Hook needs to scan you, there's definitely something wrong."

Megatron looked down, like he was hurt. "You're the one that's acting strange, you usually like it when I'm nicer to you."

"...I do like it, but you could have a glitch or something."

"I'm fine so stop worrying. Besides, I know there's something else on your mind." After two centuries together it was easy to tell when his subordinate was hiding things.

Starscream sighed, it seemed there was no escaping it. "Hook will want to know you woke up Megatron. We can talk after the scan, but right now I need to know you're okay." He said, walking over to the radio near the door.

"Well how sweet of you." Megatron said smirking sarcastically.

Starscream felt like he was blushing as he clicked on the intercom to the Constructicon's room. "...Um Hook, can you come here?"

"There's nothing I can do for him now Starscream-"

"Hello Hook, its nice to know you're still checking in on me." Megatron called from the berth.

"...Lord Megatron is that you?" There was a crash as the medic scrambled closer to the com on his end. "But when did you wake up?"

Megatron rose, stretching a little as he came over. "Just now, so can you come here? Starscream keeps insisting you scan me."

"Yes sir, I'll be right there!" Another crash sounded as he headed for the door.

Megatron chuckled lowly, the old medic always worried over him. "He says that, but it'll take him a while. He'll want to tell the whole base I'm up first." The comlinks were still malfunctioning, but the backup radios still worked.

"Well I'm not saying anything until he gets here." The sub-commander wanted to stall until someone came, that way they could save him from his mate.

Luckily for him Megatron didn't mind. "That's fine, what I want to do doesn't involve talking anyway..."

Silver arms reached around the seeker again, and he instantly knew this was bad. They couldn't do that right now.

"Megatron no, you just woke up! We don't even know if you've healed completely!" He tried his best to resist, but the grip only tightened.

"I think bonding would only help, besides I missed you."

A few longing kisses later and Starscream almost felt like giving in, but if they bonded he would see everything, including the memories of their hatchling. He managed to keep his distance since their child was born, but it was a lot harder now. He missed his mate too after all.

"But Megatron..." There was only one easy way to distract him. _"Warp get over here now!"_

His brother appeared in an instant, his molecules floating around as he reformed himself. "Starscream?"

"...Skywarp? What are you doing here?" Megatron pulled away and turned to his mate, confused. "You called for him?" A twinge of annoyance was creeping into his voice.

"No, he comes to check on me every morning." He already lied about everything else, there was no point in stopping now.

The oldest seeker nodded despite the surprised look in his optics. He had assumed his leader was in trouble. "You okay 'Screamer?"

Megatron could pretend to fall for the excuse, but he wouldn't tolerate being ignored by his own soldier. "Nothing to say to you're leader Skywarp?"

"I'm glad you're doing better sir, but my brother comes first." He wasn't really happy Megatron was awake, but he was happy he wasn't deactivated either.

"Is that so?" It seemed only Soundwave and Hook knew their place in this army.

Starscream moved between them, blocking the daggers in their stares. "I'm fine 'Warp, but did you do what I asked?"

"Sorry, no luck."

The hatchling wasn't at the underground fort either? It had only been their once, but Starscream had hoped it would somehow remember. Then the tower was the last place to check again.

Megatron gave them a suspicious glare.

"...Oh, well make sure you tell Thunder to keep at it."

"Fine, just call me if you need me."

"Don't worry he won't." Megatron could feel his strength coming back, as well as his anger.

Skywarp didn't answer, and was swept away in a cloud of dust.

"Do you always have to be rude to my wingmates?" No matter how annoying his brother could be he wouldn't let anyone yell at the mech but him.

"You told him to come here, didn't you?" Megatron growled, grabbing at his wrist.

Starscream yanked his arm away, wanting to keep his distance. "So what if I did? I don't want you strain yourself, you just woke up."

The Decepticon leader felt his patience reach its limits. "I already told you I'm fine!"

"... I don't think you are." Starscream wasn't sure why he liked the sudden temper, but at least his mate was acting like himself again.

"So when I actually show I care about you, then I'm acting strange, yet you complain when I ignore you! I don't understand you!"

The seeker felt his own anger bubbling up. "Well I shouldn't have to ask you to say you love me, or to hold me, you should know since you've already had a mate!"

That one clearly struck a nerve. "...Don't you dare bring her into this."

"Tell me Megatron, did she really kill herself to get away from you, or did you do it? Or better yet, how did your son die?"

"..." He looked down again, and although you couldn't see his optics, it seemed like he was on the verge of tears– or hitting Starscream to shut him up.

"...Well this is certainly interesting, I finally found a crime you feel guilty for-"

"Don't talk about her son."

"Her son? So he wasn't yours then? Is that why you murdered them?"

"I'm warning you Starscream, if you say one more thing about them, I don't know what I'll do to you." His voiced was choked, his emotions seeping through.

"Why are you so protective of them? Their deactivated."

"They we're my family! No matter what happened I still care about them."

"More than me?" Jealousy was enough to make the jet risk getting on his mate's bad side.

"...I don't know."

"Just tell me the truth! Did you love her more?"

"Why should I tell you anything when you're still keeping secrets from me?"

"I love you more than I ever loved Jetfire." He meant it, but he was starting to wonder why again. Jetfire had at least a dozen mates before him, but the Autobot had always said he was the best of them all. Why could his new sparkmate still not forget his first love after so long?

Megatron shook him out of his daze. "That's not what your hiding and you know it!"

He didn't bother fighting back, he couldn't win anyway. "...I've told you everything that matters."

"But you're still hiding something, and if you won't tell me what's really going on then you're leaving me no choice!"

Dark memories flashed into his mind, from back when Megatron liked to abuse him for fun. He still hadn't gotten over his fear of being alone in the brig...

"So you'd force me to bond with you just to find out?" He felt a little guilty for assuming the mech was going back to his old ways, but he couldn't help it.

"What? I never said that! Why do you always assume the worst things from me?"

"Because you've done it before, so what would stop you now?"

"I may have hurt you back then Star, but you know I care about you now!"

"...It doesn't change what you did before."

"..."

A monotone voice cut through the silence. "Should I come back later sir?"

Megatron didn't look surprised, he was used to the communication officer showing up when he shouldn't.

Starscream smiled at the blue and silver mech. Someone had finally come, which meant this was his chance to escape.

"Oh Soundwave, we didn't see you there. You can scan him right? I'll be right back."

"Where are you going Starscream?"

"I said I'll be right back." He quickly left before Megatron had the chance to stop him.

The air commander waited until he was in the holding room farthest from his leader before opening the link to his wingmates.

"_Skywarp, Sunstorm, Thundercracker."_

A cheerful ghost like hologram appeared, only seekers or mechs with extra senses could see them, so it looked weird if you were talking to someone invisible.

"You rang?" Thundercracker always answered the call first.

Another hologram, more static than the other materialized next. "What's up 'Screamer, is he bugging you again?" Skywarp was still irritated, but ready to follow any order.

Starscream turned to his second in command. "I need to talk to you."

"Then what did you call us for?" Sunstorm was annoyed with them easily, his black and orange form frowning at them.

"To tell you to stay away from the medbay for a while, Megatron's pretty angry right now."

"I'm glad he's back Star." Thundercracker said smiling cutely. Apparently Hook hadn't reached his side of the base yet.

Skywarp turned to the youngest, a dirty look on his faceplates. "Why are you so happy T.C.?"

"...Aren't you happy for him too? He's our leader after all, we're supposed to be supportive."

"Aww, thanks sweetie." Starscream reminded himself to hug the younger mech later.

Thundercracker giggled shyly. "Its nothing Star."

Sunstorm sighed and began to fade away. "Well I'm going back to work, something you all wouldn't know about."

Starscream rolled his optics the best he could. "Yeah Storm, you do that. Now come here 'Warp."

The hologram became solid and Skywarp walked through it as it filtered away. "Right here, so what can I do you for?"

"You could dig me an early grave, or hide me from Megatron."

"What, did you finally tell him about the hatchling?"

"No, not yet."

Skywarp groaned. "What do you mean not yet? Do you have any idea how pissed he'll be if you keep hiding it?"

"I'll think of something Warp."

"No, just tell him the truth, or someone else will!"

"He doesn't need to know about it, its probably..."

"Its not dead Starscream, I promise you."

"How can you say that when we don't know where it is yet?"

"We'll find it, so tell him already!"

"But 'Warp, If it turns out to be dead... he'll never forgive me."

"He'll never forgive you for keeping it from him, besides its his kid too."

"Shh! Don't say that so loud." Starscream looked at the door nervously.

"Well If you don't hurry up, I'll tell him myself, or Hook just might."

The trine leader shook his head, the medic wasn't that bold. "Hook wouldn't do that..."

"I think its better if you just tell him now."

"What going on you two?"

Just as he thought, they had come looking for him. "N-nothing Megatron!"

His leader pulled him close, looking right into his optics. "No more lying, what is it?"

"…Do you really want to know?"

He'd say whatever the jet wanted to make him tell. "Of course my love."

Skywarp cringed, and Soundwave shifted around like he was uncomfortable.

Starscream couldn't help but melt a little at that word. How could he keep something like this from his mate anyway? He deserved to know…

"I believe they took something else instead Megatron."

"Yeah, something really important." Skywarp tried to help, but earned himself a glare.

"Quiet Warp." Starscream said lowly.

"Well, what is it already?"

The seeker suddenly felt nervous again. Megatron seemed a little annoyed.

"…"

"Starscream answer me!"

"It's a hatchling… I think they took it, but I'm sure I can find it somewhere-"

"A what?" Megatron's spark felt like it would burst, he couldn't believe it.

"A hatchling my lord…"

"I heard you! Who in the pit created the hatchling?"

"Uh, well sir…um, I-I did…" Starscream's whisper was so low he could barely hear himself.

The silver mech was silent for only a few minutes, but Starscream felt like it had been days before he spoke again. "…Soundwave, Skywarp, leave us."

Soundwave obeyed immediately without a word, but Skywarp lingered behind for a moment, waiting for Starscream's approval.

"Now!"

"…As you wish sir." The mech quickly disintegrated into a cloud of dust and vanished.

Megatron quickly activated his cannon and aimed it at his mate's spark. The seeker stepped back, glancing around for some place to hide.

"Starscream, I'm going to ask you some questions and you had better come up with some good fragging answers, or else you'll be leaving here as scrap metal do you understand me?"

"…Y-yes my lord." The air commander had backed into a corner, unable to make a break for the door.

"Where is it? Where's the Allspark?"

"…What are you talking about?"

"Don't be coy Starscream, you had to use it make a hatchling, now where is it?"

"I didn't make another Allspark my lord, and I wouldn't keep something like that from you…"

Megatron went from furious to shocked. "So you… you cheated on me with a femme?"

"What? Frag no! Megatron would you just listen-" What would he want with a femme when he practically was one?

"Tell me the truth, don't you dare lie to me, is it my hatchling?"

"What do you think?" Starscream hissed, trying to make a run for the door.

Too late, Megatron grabbed him again, pinning him firmly against the wall. "Is it mine or not?"

"Of course it is my lord, who else's would it be?"

"Don't play games with me you little glitch, I know you still have feelings for that Autobot traitor of yours!"

So he wasn't really forgiven for Skyfire's attack... "It isn't like that anymore Megatron, please just believe me!"

"If I find out that it isn't mine, you'll regret it more than you know..."

"It's yours, I swear!"

"It had better be, or I'll tear both of you to pieces!"

"Please Megatron, I love you, not Skyfire."

"Love has nothing to do with it." Pulling away, he let Starscream down and turned away.

"… Sir?" The jet could run away now, but he didn't want to anymore. Megatron's cannon had gone inactive, he didn't want to hurt his mate after all.

"If you didn't use the Allspark then how did you create it?"

"I'm not entirely sure… I woke up after we bonded and it was just there inside me." Now that he thought about it, that was pretty strange. Only Primes we're known to birth children despite being male, and he was only from the slums of Iacon. As the son of a Prime, Megatron had to know that too, which is why he assumed the Allspark was involved.

"When did you have it?"

"...Five months ago."

"Five months? Would you have waited even longer to tell me if this hadn't happened?" He was more surprised than angry, but he still managed to scare the other.

"I-I'm sorry… I had planned on telling you sooner, I just didn't know how… and I thought―"

"You thought what Starscream?"

"I thought you might… kill it."

"...For Primus' sake why would I do something like that to my own child? I may be harsh, but I'm not sick."

_'Does that mean your mate really killed your son?' _"…I was just being cautious is all your highness, having a hatchling makes one a little over protective you see…"

"Perhaps you should have done more to make sure it was safe from the Autobots and humans, not from it's own Father!"

So there was no point in hiding it in the first place, Megatron wanted the hatchling, or it seemed like he did. "…I'm sorry my lord, I tried to hide it, I didn't mean for it to get lost."

"Never mind that Starscream, you still have one more question to answer. Why didn't you tell me you were with a spark in the first place?"

"I don't know actually… I love you Megatron, I truly do, but I was scared. I didn't know if you would reject me and your child because…" He didn't have the same confidence to taunt his mate about his past again. "...because of what happened with your first mate."

The twin cannons suddenly fizzled to life again. "I told you to never bring her up!"

Starscream didn't try to run again, sure it would only make Megatron more edgy. "I know my lord and I'm sorry, but I only feared for my child, maybe I was a little delusional, but I was sure you would tell me to get rid of it…"

"Well thanks to you keeping its existence to yourself, you may have gotten it killed already!" He sighed, fury turning into frustration. "You should have told me."

"…I'm sorry my lord, I didn't mean to―"

"Stop talking to me like that! I'm your mate before I'm your leader."

"Sorry…"

"And stop apologizing already! All I want is to find the child."

Starscream came closer, wanting to comfort his mate, but was immediately pushed away. "...You hate me don't you Megatron?"

"I don't know how to feel right now, I need to be alone for a while…"

"As you wish." He turned to the door slowly, feeling like Megatron was rejecting him after all.

"And Starscream..."

He turned back and Megatron grabbed him tightly, lifting his head up to stare into the cold crimson optics. Starscream suddenly remembered the hatchling's optics were bright green… that was odd too. The choking grip on his throat brought him back to reality.

"You had better hope it's still alive, or else you'll be joining it in the afterlife." Megatron's voice was shaky as he said it, but the seeker knew he meant it.

Something stranger than realizing they had a mutant hatchling had suddenly come to his attention. Megatron had acted like this once before… It was a long time ago, but he remembered having a similar conversation about a hatchling… again with Megatron. He thought hard, and after a few moments staring into those optics, he remembered the previous conversation almost exactly. He and Megatron had a hatchling before, whether it was adopted, or it was actually Jetfire's he couldn't recall, but he had distinct memories of his mate and a child. That was impossible though, as Megatron was said to have only two sons, one who died at an early age, and one who was born dead.

"Do you hear me Starscream?"

"..." So many things were floating around in his cpu to think properly.

"Starscream?" Megatron sounded a bit worried now.

The old Starscream fell away, drifting to the back of his mind. "Of course I do my lord, and my apologies for not telling you about our child, but If you could be kind enough to excuse me, I need to speak with my brothers on another matter."

"… Are you sure you didn't get damaged too? Maybe Hook should look at you."

"I assure you that I am fine my lord, but please, may I be excused from your presence?"

"I suppose, but stay close Starscream…"

"Thank you my lord, I will return immediately should you need me…" The seeker quickly slipped away to the door, and before it hissed closed he turned back and smiled at his mate. "No matter what happens I will always love you my lord."

"…You too Star." Megatron whispered back, the doors closing just before Starscream could hear.

If the hatchling was dead however, or worse, not his; Megatron would kill his own mate, despite his feelings against it. But if it was alive and indeed his, the Decepticon leader had no clue what he was going to do. He loved hatchlings as much as any Autobot would, but he couldn't handle the constant possibility of losing another one. His first child Sundown had meant more than Cybertron and even the war to him, but the mech had turned out to be someone else's. His beloved mate had broken his spark when she told him, and like Starscream would, she paid for it with her life. He had never gotten the chance to know his real son Blackburn, but he was learning to accept that. Maybe someday Bumblebee would learn to accept him too...

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**Author's Note: ** I told you it probably wasn't what's usually expected from Meggy, but if you were in a coma you wouldn't wake up pissed off would you? XD I kinda dropped a major bomb in the last part, but it's nothing compared to the ending I was going to have. Anyway, I was going to make this much longer, but I decided it best to split it up into two chappies instead. I already started the next part, and I might do a new story in a different POV for the Autobots, I'm not sure yet. See ya!


	5. TC and Me

**Author's Note:** Excuse, excuse, excuse. I updated eventually, so that's what matters. XD I worked hard to make it longer, so you'd better enjoy lol! The hatchling is back again near the end, and hopefully the name is okay (it won't have it for long though). Oh I almost forgot the replies:

Manic the Hedgehog- Well thank you, it's nice to know a fan appreciates my updates- wait a second! Hedgehog? As in a Sonic fan? Traitor! XD jk.

Grimlock47- ...I don't know if I should be offended or not. I've watched plenty of soap operas, and they were baaaaad! -_- I'll take it as a compliment lol.

Subzero Nero- Au contra'ire, he shall be a great father simply because you said he wouldn't. XP Nah, he would have been good dad anyway (that's the point).

**TF belongs to Has/Tak.**

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Starscream suddenly remembered something he'd forgotten long ago when he was young, he'd already died several times… Megatron's threats seemed meaningless now. He had to talk to the others, ask them all the questions that were coming back to him before he forgot again. Quickly opening the backdoor of the abandoned building he started repeating things to himself as he went, trying to hold on to all the fragmented memories floating around in his head. He quickly spotted his youngest wing mate, who was currently transfixed by a bluebird that found its way inside.

"Tachus, there you are! Where are the others?"

Thundercracker glanced around the room, trying to see if his leader was talking to someone else, or worse to himself.

"…Are you alright Star?" His optics were hard to read, but Starscream guessed he'd forgotten too.

"I'm fine thank you, where are the others?" He didn't want to repeat himself three times, so he had to gather everyone together.

"You mean 'Warp and Storm?"

"Yes, them of course."

"It's five, there in the projector room practicing formations like always… are you sure you're okay?"

Starscream nodded and grabbed his wing mate's arm, dragging him along to the room down the hall.

"Um okay, I'll just go with you then I guess." He thought for a minute after the older mech didn't reply.

"Hey Star, did you tell Megatron about the hatchling yet?"

"Yes I did brother, but don't worry about that now; there's something much more important I need to talk to you all about."

"…I'm not your brother Star, I'm Storm's brother and Warp is your-"

"Old mate I know, he's not my brother at all, and Stronan isn't your brother either...he's me and Skywarp's son."

"…W-what are you talking about Star? You're acting crazy." _'No way, another episode this soon? I have to stop it before this gets out of control again.'_

"Listen Tachus, I'm starting to remember the old days when we knew we were immortal. I just don't know why we've been keeping it a secret."

"Okay seriously Star, I'm worried about you know, we should go talk to Hook, he can help you."

"I'm fine Tachus, in fact I haven't felt this way in a long time…"

"...Starscream, let go."

"What's wrong little brother?"

"I'm not your brother!"

"...What?"

"I'm not your brother, or your cousin! ...I-I'm your son! How can you remember Stronan and not me?" Thundercracker felt infuriated, why was he left out?

Starscream gasped, how could he forget something like that? "Your my son too? But... I don't remember that." Maybe his mind wasn't as clear as he thought yet.

"Me and Stronan were born right after each other, how can you not remember? ...Don't I matter to you at all?"

"Of course Tachus sweetie, I love you the most...but you're not Skywarp's son."

"What do you mean?"

"...Omega."

"W-what?" That name sound so familiar, like he'd heard it often... _'That's right, she talked about him last time!'_

"Skrio just took you in, you aren't his son."

"...No, he told me-"

"His name was Omega. He was your father, not Skrio... and maybe he was Stronan's father too. I don't know for sure. I can't even remember what he looked like..."

"He said you wouldn't remember again… he swore."

"Remember what son? Please tell me!"

"I can't tell you anymore, Skwarp would hurt me." Thundercracker mumbled and shivered as he glanced around nervously.

"What? Why would he ever harm you, we're in this together, we always have been."

"You don't understand, You can't know who we really are, you're not supposed to remember anymore."

Starscream grabbed the other seeker's wrist, he had to know what was really going on. "Who am I Tachus? Tell me!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down Straya!"

"What did you call me?" _'Is that my old name?'_

"N-nothing! Just be quiet, they could be listening to us..."

"You mean like right now brother?" Sunstorm drifted out of the dark adjoining hallway, looking just as annoyed as always.

"S-storm! What are you doing here?" Thundercracker stepped back, almost falling over himself to get away.

"Boy oh boy is Father going to be mad at you when he finds out about this." Sunstorm chuckled as he came closer, his brother was always such a wuss.

The blue and white backed off, pushing back an urge to run away. That would only get him in more trouble.

"Please Storm, don't tell Skywarp! He doesn't need to know, I'll fix it myself!"

Starscream glanced at both of them, confused. "You'll what? What are you talking about fix it? There's nothing wrong with me, I'm getting my memories back!"

Sunstorm turned to her, his smile fading. "That is what we have to fix Mother, we can't have you going back to your old ways again."

"What? But Stronan I just found out what you two are to me, I won't forget that again! I can't!" How could he forget his family after all this, and why would they want him to? His confusion was turning into anger. _'What's wrong with them?'_

Sunstorm gave his older brother a quick glare, and the mech turned back. "...I'm sorry, but you have to."

"But Tachus—"

"…I-I'm really sorry for this Star, but you just won't let it go will you?" Thundercracker lowered his hand and the gun attached to his wrist instantly activated.

"Tachus please don't! My hatchling!" He moved back, only afraid of losing his memories, not his life.

There was the fizzle of a laser cannon firing, and Starscream felt his world grow cold and dark. The two mech's bent down, checking him over. He wasn't dying, but it felt like it.

"Don't worry Star, you'll feel better soon, we just have to erase a few things alright?"

"Shut up Tachus! She doesn't need to know anything else!" Sunstorm growled.

"Sorry brother…" Thundercracker reached out to hold an unmoving hand. He held tightly, staring into the fading red optics below. "We love you Mother… remember that."

Starscream jolted awake, a faint moment of a dream in his mind, one where T.C. was calling him mother. That wasn't too odd though, the younger mech had often called him that when they were younglings. He groaned as he sat up on the berth. He recalled talking to Megatron, but nothing after that. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chassis and he didn't know why. He felt around it with a finger, tracing the small indent he found there. It felt like had someone shot him up close with a null ray. Come to think of it, Thundercracker had one himself, but so did Hound and Mirage. He sighed heavily, and checked his internal clock. That was strange, he'd only been out for about two earth hours, he couldn't have been attacked then, they would still be fighting if the Autobots had invaded again. Something had to have happened though, why else would he be in the medbay?

"Hey are you awake now? Hook was getting pretty worried." The youngest of Soundwave's minicons was sitting at the edge of the berth staring up at him.

"…Frenzy? What are you doing in here?" The seeker tried moving his wings, making sure the mischievous bot hadn't rewired with them again. They still hurt, but worked just fine.

Frenzy pretended he didn't notice. "Hook saw me in the hallway and said to watch you while he talked to Big Boss about the kid."

"…The kid?" Starscream whispered nervously. _'Did Megatron really tell the others about our hatchling?' _That would be a big step since he was never that open with his soldiers.

"Annie of course." Only Frenzy cared enough about the human youngling to ask her name.

"So what's going on?"

"Megatron told my dad that he wants to trade her back to the Autobots for some special weapon they took."

' A weapon they took? Good save Megatron, no one will notice the weapon is actually a hatchling...' Sometimes Starscream wondered what he saw in his mate.

"…Well I meant what's going on with me, but alright then."

Frenzy scratched at his armor, he could never sit still. "Oh that, my dad said he found you in the projector room and someone had messed with your helmet, I'm pretty sure he did it though."

"What? Why would he do that? I haven't done anything to him lately."

"He doesn't really like you… I mean, you did kind of get me killed after all."

_'…I apologized already, what more does he want?' _"But why didn't Megatron do something?" His own mate didn't defend him?

"He doesn't know, dad said it was best not to stress him anymore since he's already having a bad day."

"A bad day? That's an understatement."

The medbay doors clicked open, and Hook, looking a little nervous, came over to them. "…It's a good thing you're awake, Megatron is asking for you."

Starscream sighed, his mate probably just wanted to yell at him again. He hopped off the berth and followed Hook out with Frenzy tailing him. He wondered if his wing mates were having a better day than he and Megatron were.

Thundercracker tried to push back guilt as he pictured the look Starscream had before he shot her. She had been terrified of him, and maybe even thought he was trying to kill her. He looked up from the floor he'd been staring at for hours, his mind made up. "I can't do this anymore, it's wrong."

"Oh, quit your whining, its your own fault we had to wipe her again. You should have just kept your big mouth shut." Sunstrom hissed.

Thundercracker sighed, his brother didn't understand. Twins or not, they had nothing in common.

"...But she obviously wants to remember him, so why do we have to keep doing this? It's not fair to her."

"No it's not fair to Father that you keep betraying him like this!" Sunstorm was loyal only to him, and seemed to hate everyone else.

"I'm sorry alright, I didn't mean to. But it's not like I made her start up again, something else set her off."

Sunstrom sighed and glanced outside as a flash of lightning lit up the dark storeroom.

What was so special about this Omega he had no idea, but Thundercracker was sure of one thing, he had to be just as conniving as Skywarp. Honestly, did she really believe he was their real father creator? But that would mean he and Storm weren't really twins at all, which couldn't be true. They'd been together from the beginning, since he could remember this life. Then again, his past two lives were a little fuzzy, the first one more so. All he knew was what Skywarp had told him, but he had never doubted his Father... until now.

"Do you know an Omega?" He had a feeling asking would get him punished, but he had to know.

"Who's that?"

"A mech Mother kept mentioning. He seemed important to her..."

"Never heard of him. Probably someone she knew in her last life. Don't worry about it, she'll always love Father, even if she doesn't know the truth yet."

"...I'm not sure we even know the truth anymore. The last time she went back to her old self she started talking about him too. I'm starting to think he might really be..."

"Be what? One of her old mate's or something? Maybe he was once, Father didn't do much to stop her from bonding to Jetfire either. He just doesn't want her to catch on to us, you know that."

"...I guess, but she never says anything about Jetfire when she's like that, only this Omega. What if he's our real father like she said."

"So she didn't forget about him after all then?" Skywarp called out in the dark. He had materialized only a few minutes ago, just as TC had asked about Omega.

Sunstorm turned, sudden fear in his optics. "Father! ...Please, I don't know what he's talking about-"

"Quiet Stronan! I'm not talking to you, so get out."

"Yes Father." He scrambled out the door to disappear in the flashing light.

Thundercracker jumped up from the floor, wanting to join his brother outside. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."

"Don't apologize my son, it's alright to think that way sometimes. I didn't like the mech that made this body either, but I dealt with him..." A slight smirk played on his faceplate.

_'Does he mean by killing him? Is that what he thinks I want to do too?'_ "No that's not what I was saying either! I love you of course, you're my creator..."

"Would you love Omega if he was your creator instead?" Skywarp didn't hesitate to ask, his look turning serious.

"...Of course not 'Warp, besides he doesn't matter right?" _'Come on, tell me something about him!'_

"No, he doesn't. Just some mech she used to be in love with before me, but nothing came of it. But tell me something son, why do you still call me that?" Skywarp made sure to look hurt when he said it.

To be honest, TC had never taken to calling him Father, it didn't sound right. "I-I just... I don't know."

"It's alright, you can tell me. You know I'd never treat you like the Father you had before."

Thundercracker knew Skywarp meant the mech that had made the host body his soul was currently in, Lightstorm, but Megatron came to mind instead. What was going on? Now he felt like he had four different Fathers. Skywarp, LightStorm, Megatron, and whoever this Omega was. He just couldn't pick one anymore.

"What's wrong son?"

"I...I feel weird. I want to see Mother. I have to see her." He felt fine though, guilt couldn't make their kind sick.

"Please, I'd rather you see Hook. Something could be wrong."

"No, I want to see my Mother!"

"...Alright son, whatever you want." Skywarp had a soft spot for him, so he would be allowed to see her alone, just this once.

"Thank you... Father." He knew what to do now. He was going to ask Starscream more about Omega, and if she didn't remember, he'd just have to take all the old data chips Skywarp was hiding from her. Hopefully Starscream would have some trace of a memory with him, something to prove who he was.

Starscream had the feeling he had forgotten something important… something he promised himself he wouldn't forget. Oh right, Hook had said Megatron wanted to see him immediately… but there was something else he couldn't remember.

He sighed and gave up. "Oh well, I guess it wasn't that important after all…"

"What?" The tiny mech looked up at him, and he reminded Starscream of the hatchling. He was so small and fragile... the seeker felt his spark wrench. He missed his child.

"...Nothing Frenzy, you should go back to your quarters now, I'm sure your brother is looking for you."

"Uh, okay." The minicon whistled and headed back the other way.

He waited until he was sure the youngling had left before entering the room.

Megatron was sitting on his berth looking vacantly out the dusty old window.

The seeker could tell the leader was still upset, but he wasn't going to hurt anyone right now.

"…Starscream." The silver mech's optics were slightly glazed over when he turned to his mate.

"You called for me Megatron?"

"Are you alright now?"

"I'm fine I guess... why?" Was he acting strange before?

"It's nothing. I wanted to talk to you about the…" He trailed off, his voice distant.

"The hatchling?"

"Yes, do you know what it is?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Primus I hope it's not a mech."

"Why? Would you reject it if it was?"

"No, but I don't think I want another one..."

"Are you worried about it?" Starscream felt wrong to ask, but he wanted to make sure they felt the same way.

Megatron's gaze hardened. "Aren't you?"

"Of course I am, It's just that… are you even sure you want it?"

"...Not yet, I'm still too confused right now, I'll have to think about that later. For now let's just focus on getting it back."

"It shouldn't be any danger…I'm sure the Autobots are taking good care of it." At least he hoped.

"And if it's not with them Starscream? You know what the humans did when they captured the Autobot youngling." His youngling...

"…If they do have it, what will we do?"

"Kill all of them until we find it of course, do you really think I'd let them get away with this?"

"I know you wouldn't Megatron, but it has to be with the Autobots right? …I mean they wouldn't let the humans take it…they wouldn't let them hurt it, not an innocent child, not our hatchling." Starscream turned away, he didn't want his mate to see him like this. Megatron rushed over to him, letting the data chip in his hand fall to the floor.

He held the other mech close, forgetting what was still trapped inside the disc. " It'll be fine Star. We'll find it, I swear. "

It was another three days before they had any leads on the hatchling's location however, and from the last place Megatron had expected.

Soundwave entered his master's room with his keycard, and sighed when he saw the mech was still pacing around the room.

"What is it now Soundwave?"

"My lord, there is a coded message being received from the Autobots."

"What? ...Trace it and find out where they are!"

"That's the issue sir, the message itself is giving us directions straight to one of their bases, they want us to find them."

The Decepticon leader felt the energon in him boil. "Then they must… Prime must have the hatchling."

"Sir I know it isn't my place to ask but is the hatchling yours?"

Megatron stopped in his tracks. "…I hope so, or else it will stay with the Autobots until its of a proper age to kill."

The officer was surprised, but it didn't show. "You would kill your own mate's young sir?"

"If it's not mine why shouldn't I?"

"It's a hatchling, sir… a living one. I don't believe you should destroy it." Soundwave wasn't usually defiant, but when it concerned children he had to say something.

"Oh you don't Soundwave and why is that exactly?"

"Starscream has not had any thoughts of infidelity for over a century, I doubt the hatchling is not yours." He was lying, but if it made Megatron feel better than it was worth it.

His leader was getting mad instead. "Didn't I tell you to stop―"

"Reading your thoughts sir? I apologize, but I thought Starscream was still available." He bowed in apology, but was ignored.

"You know you're my closest friend Soundwave, and my most trusted soldier… but sometimes you annoy me."

It was a good thing Megatron wasn't looking at him, he would have caught the pain in his optics. "I'm sorry sir... I will remember to stay out of everyone's mind If it pleases you."

"Sure you will Soundwave, but what about the transmission?"

"Frenzy and Barricade have triangulating on the signal's position as we speak sir, they made sure it matched their directions."

"Even if it's right it could still be a trap..."

"What does that matter sir? They have your child."

"…You're right, get a few of the troops ready."

"I already have sir, their waiting just outside."

Feeling bad about yelling at him, Megatron gave his officer a quick grateful smile and he headed for the door. "Good Soundwave, let's go."

He had never felt so conflicted before a battle, he wanted to kill his brother for taking his child from him again, but he couldn't deny that Prime had always cared for Bumblebee. Even if the hatchling had been with the Autobots this whole time, it should be happy to come home, so they wouldn't have to fight to take it...he wouldn't have to fight Prime.

"I said I no wanna."

"You don't have a choice runt." was getting annoyed. This little brat had some nerve to talk back to anyone, let alone him. He reminded him of Megatron when the mech was only a youngling. Back when he wasn't a traitorous psycho killer. _'I sure hope ya ain't his cause ya sure act like him.'_

"But I no wanna 'Hide."

"Look, Ratchet'll be here soon then you can cling to him all ya want, but right now you have to come with me."

"But I no like you!"

Ironhide sighed and reached down to pick up the hatchling from its playpen, but it slapped his hand away.

"Look here you little brat I'm fed up with you! Now you're coming with me or you can stay here all day."

"That's enough Ironhide, I'll take him now." Ratchet called as he entered the rec room, Firstaid just behind him.

"Ratchet? 'Bout time ya got here, this runt was starting to give me a glitch."

The black and silver mech bounced up and down at the sight of his guardian.

"Hatchet-Bear I miss you! Where you go? Why you gone so long? You bring me back anything shiny?"

"Alright, alright settle down. You're getting hyper again."

The hatchling took a deep breath and sighed. "...Kay, I'm fine now."

"Good, now close you're optics. I've got something for you."

Not listening as usual, he reached up instead. "Really? Is it shiny? Give it!"

Ratchet moved away, the mech could jump pretty high when he wanted to. "Now what did I just say?"

Closing it's optics it took another breath. "...Right, be calm. I sorry Hatchet-Bear."

"And try speaking correctly, you're getting too old for that."

Jazz walked over, patting the little mech's helmet playfully. "Go easy on 'em Ratch, he's not even a youngin' yet."

"Oh it's you. Well it's probably you're fault he can barely talk straight, he hangs around you too much."

Jazz frowned, a little offended. "Well I can speak normally you know, I just choose not to."

"Yeah, we just choose not to." Ironhide grinned, he loved getting on the cmo's nerves just as much as the twins.

"Listen you two-"

The hatchling pretended to cough to interrupt them. "Excuse me older mech, but might I acquire the hopefully shiny new present you got me before you're faulty memory chip makes you forget about it?" He tilted his head and smiled, looking as sweet as possible.

Jazz didn't bother holding in a laugh. This kid was bolder than most twice his age. "Don't ya just love the little guy?"

"...I'm going to assume I have Perceptor to thank for that, remind me to throw something at him later." Ratchet turned to Firstaid, who nodded.

"You really do have bad memory don't ya?" Ironhide wasn't really in any position to talk since he was older, but the medic wouldn't notice anyway.

"Don't make me hit you." Ratchet grumbled.

"Easy old timer, ya might blow a fuse if you try to lift your arm to high, maybe you should sit down before you break a hip joint too." Jazz didn't feel too bad since the kid was messing with him too.

"Ooh, he burned you good Hatchet-bear!"

"Quiet runt." Ratchet murmured glaring down at him.

The hatchling tried to look hurt, but only giggled. "Come on, can't I get it now?"

"Fine, here it is. I hope you weren't expecting anything really special." He sub-spaced a copy of the same mark they all wore and stuck it to the hatchling's shoulder.

"It's um... what's that word... lame."

"That's our insignia runt, ya could at least try and be happy about it." Ironhide growled.

"I know, but what's it for?"

"...Don't you understand? It means you're one of us now. You're an Autobot." Firstaid finally spoke up, he was always shy around the hatchling.

"Really? Did Uncle Oppy tell you to give it to me?"

Ratchet nodded, the child was always happy to hear about their leader."Well yes, but he was a little to busy to give it to you himself, something about a signal he had to send out."

"...Of course, he's always busy now."

All four older mech's exchanged the same worried glance. Optimus had been more than happy to stop working to play with Bumblebee when he was younger, but not for this hatchling. It wasn't like him to ignore a child, especially one so innocent. Something was making him keep his distance for the past month. Ratchet briefly wondered if this had to do with Skyfire's comment before about it's parents. It apparently had to have a seeker and a ground mech for creators, which had seemed to bother Prime. Of course Starscream and Megatron certainly fit the bill since they were together, but that was impossible. Not after what Megatron had been through before, losing a mate and two sons in the same day...

The medic felt a light tug on a wire in his leg and he looked down again.

"Can't I get a name too Hatchet-Bear? No one ever gave me one..." Not even his mother.

"Oh right, that's another thing... at first we thought you're own parents should name you, but since we can't confirm who they are we might as well give you one."

"Yay! So no one will call me runt or little guy anymore right?"

"Nah, we'll still call ya runt."

He pouted in annoyance. "Ah man, no fair... So what is it? What's my name?"

"...RoadFlare, since you liked the ones Spike used the day we met you so much."

"The shiny fiery thing? It was so cool, why couldn't I get one of those?" The newly dubbed RoadFlare smiled gleefully, he'd never been so happy.

Ratchet laughed, the little mech got excited over the simplest things. "Come on, don't you like this? It's shiny too." He pointed at the logo now on his arm.

"Hmm, I guess it's okay... Does this mean I can come play with you guys outside the base now?"

Ratchet felt fear wash over him, the thought of the mech being hurt again flashing through his cpu. "I don't think that's a good idea RoadFlare, you'll have to grow more first."

"Actually I think it's a perfectly good idea Ratchet." Optimus said, the door hissing shut behind him. He tried to be as calm as possible. "In fact we should probably get going now." There was no possibility of keeping the hatchling here for even one more day. He could feel Megatron's presence deep down in his spark, and his brother was clearly angry. There were only two reasons he could be this upset- he wanted to kill Skyfire for injuring him, or because he awoke to find his new son missing. Considering that the hatchling resembled Megatron, and that he was the type to hold a grudge, it was probably both.

Ratchet was the most surprised, since he was closest to the child. "Optimus what are you talking about?"

Jazz looked worried too. "Yeah, ya can't be serious boss, he's too young."

"Don't worry, he should be fine. We just have to return him without getting into a fight with them." Optimus didn't even glance at the hachling, he didn't want to see its reaction.

"...Them? You mean the Decepticons? We can't just hand him over to them!" Ratchet let his emotions come out, not caring if anyone saw.

"We don't have a choice."

"Prime, I know you think you know who his creators are, but we shouldn't do anything until we're absolutely sure."

"Y-you know who my parent's are?" RoadFlare's spark skipped a beat. He could go home, to his mother...if she still wanted him.

Prime finally worked up the courage to look at the child. "...Yes, I believe I do little one."

Ratchet wouldn't stop pleading. "Optimus sir, please don't do this now, he might be better off with us."

"I'm sorry but I've already contacted them, we're to meet them at the south base in four hours."

"W-what? How could you do that? You didn't even ask-"

"You're not his father Ratchet, you can't keep him!"

"...I was going to say you didn't ask _**him**_ first. But you're right, he's not mine and I can't make him stay here; but it's his decision."

Roadflare looked down, not sure what to do. He loved Ratchet, Jazz, Bee, the Twins, and all of the other Autobots, except Ironhide. He didn't want to leave them so suddenly, but he missed his mother too. He couldn't even remember what she looked like anymore...

"I wanna meet my parents. If I like them then I'll stay... but if I don't I can just come back right?"

"I'm afraid not little one, you can only return if they allow it... which isn't likely."

"B-but I don't wanna leave you and Hatchet-bear. I can live without everyone else, but I no wanna leave you!" The tiny mech clutched Ratchet as he was picked up and cradled.

Optimus sighed, the hatchling always regressed like this when he wanted attention. It was working too, and the Autobot leader felt horrible for doing it, but he didn't reach out to comfort him. If this was Megatron's son like he thought, then he couldn't be close to him anymore. He already hurt his brother enough by stealing one child from him, he couldn't bear to do it again.

"...I'm so sorry, but this is how it has to be from now on. If it's meant for you to see us then you will."

"But Uncle Oppy you promised! You promised to never leave me!" RoadFlare burst out in tears, desperately reaching for Prime.

_'I can't hold him...no matter what.'_ "I-I know little one, but please don't cry."

"You said you loved me right? So aren't you gonna fight to get me back if their mean to me?" His words were choked but hopeful.

Optimus only shook his head. He knew saying no flat out would make child cry more.

"...If their 'Con's kid then trust me, they'll be mean no matter what." Jazz muttered.

"Don't tell him Jazz, even they can't ignore a hatchling this cute." Bumblebee came over and poked the tiny faceplates with a smile.

Roadflare giggled and lifted his arms to be picked up by his 'Big Brother' instead. The spy quickly obliged him, while the medic shot him a jealous glare.

"When did ya get here Bee? I thought ya we're still out scouting with Hound?"

"We picked up the Seekers and Coneheads on radar, so I thought I'd use Teletron to try and find out we're their headed." Bumblebee said, gently tickling the child in his arms.

"That won't be necessary Bumblebee, we're about to head there now." Optimus tried not to face him either.

Bumblebee cocked his head just like the hatchling, slightly surprised. "You mean you know where their going?"

"The south army base the humans evacuated a week ago. We're meeting them there to hand over Roadflare for some reason..." Ratchet muttered, anger rushing through him.

"We're doing what?" The spy was shocked. The mech he considered his little brother was being given away like some consolation prize. How could Prime allow this?

"This is for the best, so everyone stop complaining. They deserve to have their child back."

"Well it's just strange that you never even tried to find out who my creators were." Bumblebee went into a slightly dark mood.

Ironhide put a hand on the yellow bot's helmet. "Come on Bee, there ain't no reason to talk like that. I think you were pretty well off without them anyway..."

"Oh, 'Hide... I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way, you know you'll always be my Father." Bumblebee grabbed his old guardian's hand, holding it for a minute while RoadFlare clinged to his chassis.

"...It's alright Bee." Ironhide said lowly.

Optimus decided it was a good time for him to slip away the hatchling, and finally reached out for it.

Bumblebee refused to let go. "If you want to take him to sleep fine, but if you're trying to take him away you can forget it!"

"I'm sorry but it doesn't matter how anyone feels about this, it's the right thing to do."

RoadFlare spoke up again, his voice squeaky from crying. "Wait a minute! I didn't even say if I wanna go yet Uncle Oppy!"

"...You know I can't let you stay, you belong with them."

"No, I don't wanna go! Not if I can't see you and Hatchet-bear."

There was only one way to get him to go along with this. Prime smiled and pulled the mech into his arms. He knew he shouldn't but it would be the last day with his nephew, and he was going to miss him.

"...I swear you'll see all of us again little one. Even if I have to fight to get you back." He whispered.

"You mean it?"

"Of course, it's a promise."

Roadflare grinned, at least someone was willing to fight for him. "Kay Uncle Oppy, I'll go."

_.•.  
(_¸.•*´'`°¤¸¸.•'´O`'•.¸¸¤°´'`* •.¸_)

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**Author's Note:** Boy oh boy did that take forever to type. XD I had fun writing about the hatchling though, I guess I missed having him in there. Tell me if you like the name... and shiny things. Alright my eyes feel like they'll fall out any minute now, so I'm going to sleep. And yes, all will be explained it further chapters, so thank you and night night. ^_^


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